Electronic Adjudication Management System (EAMS) Insider

Issue 3 August 11, 2008

Welcome to EAMS Insider, the newsletter about the Electronic Adjudication Management System (EAMS).

As the Division of Workers’ Compensation prepares for EAMS, it has fielded many questions from injured workers, employers, attorneys, insurers, lien claimants, and others about the new system. This newsletter was created to answer those questions and share information. Every other month, EAMS Insider will provide information on new developments and what to expect during this transition. Bulletins will also be sent to subscribers for important announcements. (Sign up to be a subscriber at EAMS@dir.ca.gov.)

What you need to know

For a quick primer on EAMS, point your browser to www.dwc.ca.gov/eams. There, you will find a project overview, fact sheet, FAQs, blogs from DWC Judges Colleen Casey and Bob Norton, application demos and a glossary. Even if you have visited the Web site before, be sure to check back often for updates, “how to” guides and other useful tools.

EAMS project updates

Mark your calendar. On Aug. 25, the division will flip the EAMS go-live switch, and our business processes will change. Whether you are an injured worker, an attorney, an insurer, a lien claimant, a third-party administrator or doing business with DWC in some other capacity, you will need to decide how you will file your forms and documents in the new system.

You will either:

● File on paper using OCR forms

or

● File electronically using e-forms

For the best breakdown on these choices and what they entail, direct your Web browser to www.dwc.ca.gov/EAMS and click on the “Getting Ready for EAMS” link. A variety of tools on this page will help you decide which method is best for getting your forms and documents into the new electronic environment.

For a good overview of the process, watch the EAMS form submission demo and the EAMS decision point presentation. They will help you make your decision.

Those filing using new OCR paper forms should click on the memo from Court Administrator Keven Star on prepping documents for filing for step-by-step instructions. Also look for a “how to” guide on filing new OCR paper forms, along with sample files, to be posted by the end of this week.

These materials will help you prepare for EAMS, and more tools are on the way. Check the EAMS Web page often to see what’s new.

Which method works best for you?: As you think about which method of submitting documents (OCR paper forms or e-forms) fits your situation, considering processing speed may help you make a decision about how you will file in the period between go-live and when regulations requiring OCR forms become effective. Following is a breakdown of how your choice of filing will be processed into EAMS:

1. Become an “E-forms trial” participant. Participants will submit all documents and forms by e-forms. Log-ons and passwords will be issued to e-forms trial participants as soon as possible after EAMS go-live. Review the EAMS decision point presentation to determine if this option works for you.
2. Submit all filings on new OCR forms, which will be available on the DWC Web site Aug. 25. Using new OCR forms means setting up your files using the new forms themselves, along with required cover sheets and document separator sheets. These forms will then be scanned into EAMS at the district office. See the EAMS form submission demo on the EAMS Web site. (An OCR form “how to,” along with sample files, is coming soon to the EAMS Web site.)
3. Submit old forms with new OCR cover sheets and document separator sheets. These forms will then be scanned into EAMS at the district office.
4. Submit old forms and supporting documentation to the district office on a CD. These forms will then be used by district office clerical staff to open a case file in EAMS using e-forms. (CD filing information is coming soon to the EAMS Web site.)
5. Submit old forms and supporting documentation the old way. These forms then need to be set up in an EAMS-compatible format by district office staff using OCR cover sheets and document separator sheets. The file will then be scanned into EAMS.

* The closer you get to option number 1, the easier it is for your forms and documents to be processed into EAMS.

** OCR forms, cover sheets and separator sheets will not be required until the EAMS regulations are effective. However, using OCR forms, cover sheets and separator sheets BEFORE they are required will greatly increase the DWC’s ability to get your files into EAMS.

Training days: DWC will conduct two “train the trainer” sessions for external users in Oakland and Los Angeles. The sessions, which are specifically for organizational trainers, will focus primarily on filing forms and documents in EAMS. The trainers who attend a session will, in turn, be expected to provide this training to the rest of their organizations’ staff who will need to understand how to keep their files moving through the workers’ compensation courts as EAMS is implemented.

The sessions will be held:

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (break for lunch from noon-1 p.m.)
Ronald Reagan State Office Building – auditorium
300 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA

Friday, Aug. 15, 2008
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (break for lunch from noon-1 p.m.)
Elihu Harris State Building – auditorium
1515 Clay Street
Oakland, CA

Because of demand, both the scheduled sessions filled up quickly. Reservations will be confirmed by email. If you were not able to get a reservation, we will keep your name and contact information on file in the event that we schedule other training sessions.

Please bookmark the EAMS page on the DWC Web site and look for future announcements and project updates: www.dwc.ca.gov/eams.

“How to” with EAMS: DWC has been working with external partners——representing injured workers, attorneys, insurers and lien claimants——to design “how to” guides to using EAMS for each represented group. These guides will be available soon, along with sample files and new FAQs, so check the EAMS Web page for an announcement.

Regulations update: The last edition of EAMS Insider described the regulations process, which culminated in July public hearings in Los Angeles and Oakland. Now the division has modified the regulations and posted a 15-day notice of revisions on its Web site. Members of the public may comment on the revisions until 5 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2008. For more information, click on this link: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCPropRegs/EAMS_regulations/EAMS_regulations.htm.

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) has its own proposed rule changes. Read more about them here: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/dwc_newslines/2008/Newsline_45-08.htm

How you can help

 Watch the demos and view all of the “Getting Ready for EAMS” links.

A few perspectives on change:

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.  —Mary Engelbreit

Joy is a more powerful motivator than fear. —Dr. Dean Ornish

The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me.  The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.  —George Bernard Shaw

Change is inevitable—except from a vending machine.  —Robert C. Gallagher

EAMS Insider is published every other month by the DWC Communications Office. It can also be found on the division’s Web site at www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/EAMS. Questions? Comments? Story ideas? Email pmelton@dir.ca.gov.

EAMS Public Information Officer Peter Melton
510-286-7100